is ring worth it

If you’ve been a regular reader, you know that I don’t always go off on personal tangents. But this one, I mean, it’s a Big Deal ™. A few weeks ago, RIng dropped the price on its basic video doorbell. I’ve been wanting one for a long time because I’m a scary hermit that doesn’t answer the door or leave the house. What I mean is that UPS knows my address by heart, but has no idea what I look like.

So, anyway, when the price was dropped, I was poised to strike. I mean, I was confident a video doorbell would make a difference. It took all of 10 minutes to install once I got the frikken hole drilled in the brick on the front of my house. If you have a basic understanding of power tools and a little extra time over your lunch break, this is definitely something you can handle.

How are Doorbells Related to Writing?

My ever-questioning horde, let me explain. To start with, I have four dogs. Four. In Missouri, this was not considered totally crazy, but here in Fort Worth, Texas, it’s a different story. People just don’t have that many dogs. Nothing is really made with that many dogs in mind. So I have to go out of my way to keep them calm and quiet so the neighbors two blocks over aren’t disturbed and call Animal Control.

It is what it is. I try to not be annoyed by my new homeland. It has a lot going for it, like a lack of winter weather.

Combine these doggos with my almost compulsive urge to order shit from Amazon, eBay and other merchants so that I don’t have to leave the house. See, if I’m out there in the world, I’m not safe inside my ice cave. And that’s just no bueno, you know?

in pre-Ring days, I’d have a sign that people would ignore. It said, more or less, “don’t fucking ring this bell or knock or I will cut you.” Delivery guys were assholes and did anyway. One, when I asked him why in the world he rang the bell that was covered by one such sign, countered by asking me how else I’d know my order was delivered.

The answer? Uh, I get a text message as soon as you log it. Jerk.

You don’t need much of an imagination to understand how loud and stressful this was becoming. Between delivery people who didn’t understand how their own system worked and my easy to work up terriers, it was… it was chaos. Loud, ugly, overstimulating chaos.

Better Writing Through Quiet Doorbells

You know how it’s super annoying when someone interrupts you mid-thought and you have to stare at the page for 20 minutes to sort out what it was you were driving at when it happened? Yeah, that’s what my dogs were doing to me several times a day. It was affecting my work. It sucked.

Today, when a package comes, I get a silent alert on my desktop and a vibration on my phone. That’s it. Most of the time, the dogs don’t even realize someone has been here. That spells quiet time more often, fewer false alarms and so many more fully executed thoughts.

I have literally reclaimed hours of work time due to this doorbell. It has paid for itself over and over again.

Just so you know, as part of the quiet installation I had to disable the bell on my doorbell. In case you want to get one because I said it was pretty awesome. That’s my special tip for you.

Now Go Write!

I know that I usually give you some sort of advice or whatever, but today it’s all doorbells. Doorbells will change your freaking life if you get the right one.